UF rush
 

I'm going to be a freshman at UF in the fall, and I am rushing, so I am just wondering if anyone has any information or tips for me. I do have some questions: How competitive is rush at UF and how necessary are recs? What are some of the more competitive sororities? Does everyone get a bid? What are the sororities looking for exactly? Anything you can tell me would be helpful; I would just really like to know what to expect because even though it is 5 months away I am somewhat nervous.Thanks!

http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...da+recruitment

There ya go.

The thread that knight_shadow referred you to should help.

Recruitment at UF is very competitive, recs can be in many cases a must.

A lot of helpful information can be found at the UF Panhellenic website.

Also please know that the Greek Chat search tool is your friend! There are many helpful things that you can search on to help you during recruitment.

Thanks a bunch everyone! That thread is really helpful. Also, does anyone know how to contact NPC alumnae in my area? Or anyone on here that would like to help out? I have a couple of friends moms that can do recs but for a couple of sororities I am interested in I don't know any alumnae, and I'm not sure how to go about finding them.(Specifically AOpi, ZTA, KD and DG)
I know I saw that information about that on a thread somewhere, but I cannot for the life of me find it again.

If you are from a major city, check with your local Panhellenic Association (feel free to PM me if you want some help). Talk to your parent's friends, women from church or your teachers/counselors. Many people don't advertise their Greek affiliation, but you would be surprised how many women were members of GLOs if you ask.

http://npcwomen.org/alumnae-panhellenics/directory.aspx

Assuming you're from FL, there are a lot of FL Alumnae Panhellenics that have websites linked on that page.

You should also ask your friends' moms if they have friends in other sororities who could possibly write recs for you.

Based on what I've read here over the years...for UF, it's a good idea to get a rec for EVERY SORORITY...not just the ones you're interested in prior to recruitment. A lot can happen during UF Rush. Houses you like now may not necessarily be the houses you absolutely love when you do meet them.

That is the link I was looking for! Thank you! I knew I had seen it somewhere earlier. Unfortunately the link for my city says under construction, but I looked around and found a bunch of websites of sorority alumnae groups in my city that I can contact. And so far I have 5 friends moms that will write me recs. So I don't think this will be as difficult as I originally thought.

Be sure to be very courteous when interacting with the alums who are writing your recs. Be prompt, and get your info to them in a neat and orderly packet. I always like it when the pnm includes a stamped LEGAL envelope addressed to the chapter. I ALSO always appreciate a thank you note from the pnm who I write a rec for. After you drop off your resume, etc. or meet with her, take a minute to write a thank you. It will serve two purposes - 1) obviously, to thank her for taking the time to write you a rec and 2) it will be a memory jogger for her to get that rec sent off.
Good luck this fall - keep us posted.

I'm so glad I found this site; you all have been very helpful! I am actually starting to contact alumnae groups now so everyone has plenty of time to do so. Since I know a lot of girls are waiting until the summer, I want to be one of this first. I am definitely going to put updates on here, and you can bet I will post a detailed rush story in the fall lol.

Assuming you are in Florida, please be aware that there are sometimes multiple groups in an urban area. For example, there are 5 different groups in the Tampa Bay area alone. If you have any specific questions please feel free to send me an PM.

No offense to SECDomination, but chapters do not start to learn rec info before the announced deadline to receive recs. You just need to note the rec deadline given by Panhellenic and make sure yours are in on time. As long as the recs are in on time, the chapters will see them. You are doing the correct thing in contacting alums now to let them know you will be getting info to them as quickly as possible after school is out and your final resume is ready.

One more thing, does anyone know about how many recs i should have per chapter at UF? Is one enough or should I get more?

Mmmmmm. I'm gonna have to disagree with you here. (At least for the chapters I have worked with.) They go ahead and get a jump start on whatever they can and learn as they go rather cram it all in at the very end. Some chapters may wait, but not ALL. Unless I am completely misunderstanding your statement....

This I completely agree with. But if a lot of people wait till the last minute, there will be more recs/apps to look at at the same time.

i would concentrate more on having one recommendation per chapter first, and then try to find a 2nd if you feel the need.

i always think that one official recommendation is sufficient, because it is most often a fill in the blank form. having a letter(s) to compliment the rec. can be more advantageous than multiple recs., because it allows the alumna(e) to expand on your accomplishments and i think in some ways is more valuable than 3 or 4 recs (which give the same info.over and over). for instance, instead of just listing that you were in abc service club, in her letter the alumna can go on and on about the particular service projects you participated in and tell how valuable you were to the organization because you headed up several of the projects. she can highlight your duties in organizing the projects. that helps show the sorority the talents you could bring to the chapter.

jwright25 said,
Mmmmmm. I'm gonna have to disagree with you here. (At least for the chapters I have worked with.) They go ahead and get a jump start on whatever they can and learn as they go rather cram it all in at the very end. Some chapters may wait, but not ALL. Unless I am completely misunderstanding your statement....


I was strictly speaking from my own experience with fall recruitment, which is what I believe the OP is participating in. Since recs are received in the summer, usually by a mid summer deadline, rarely do more than the few girls on the rec committee see them until all actives return to campus for work week. But, I may be mistaken in how UF does this...

Posters and related activities like you are describing are controlled by panhellenic at U of A and are only allowed up during work week when the house is closed to the public. At Gainsville, I wonder if recs are available for scrutiny during the summer or are actives just lobbying for their top pnm's among members...just curious. Are the sorority houses open in the summer?

And you are right, no matter what, it is very intense!

:eek:

In my opinion and interpretation of membership selection, how a chapter wishes to get to know PNMs and review recommendations is a matter of individual chapter policy and shouldn't be regulated by Panhellenic. Now - if the houses are open to incoming students during Orientation sessions, etc., I can understand the expectation that these items would not be on open display. But to tell chapters that they can't make posters, lists, have review sessions, etc. until a certain time just seems a bit too controlling.

What is the reasoning behind this? Again, I might be misunderstanding you as above. I had no idea that Panhellenic would try to control this, as it is not the case on the campuses (including SEC) that I have worked with.... :)

I just checked the campus Pan rules before responding to be sure I was correct and the rule is "no posters may be on display anywhere (including chapter room) at any time except work week and must be taken down by 5:00 before the day of round 1."

I am not really sure why they have a poster rule, except that hearing from an above post that a frat boy was in a sorority house and was able to see who was being recruited and, conversely, who wasn't, could be a real problem...

the local panhellenic has some very rigid and narrow rules...I have posted elsewhere in other threads that one crazy rule is "every sorority woman must touch the door sill plate with her foot as she greets and exits a pnm from the house." I imagine the very competitive nature of U of A recruitment has been the impetus for some of these crazy rules...here's another I just remembered: sororities must hang the same banner (king bed sheet size only) from the house all during recruitment week. No frills can go a little overboad, imo. I don't think that different banners for each round is hard on any of the groups

Rules have really changed.

It was once competitive at UF and that has not changed.

These rules are in place for reasons and just think of what must have gone on to have these rules established in the first place.